Artifact Road Show Comes to BLM Billings Curation Center

On Friday, April 18, from 1 to 4 p.m., the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Billings Curation Center (BCC) will host the fourth annual Artifact Road Show in partnership with the Montana Archaeological Society’s Archeology Month.

The event invites the public to bring in artifacts they have to be analyzed by a panel of archaeological experts in order to discover the potential purpose, time period and story behind the object. Professionals will also take time to discuss the history of the area.

“We are excited to be part of the Artifact Road Show again this year, and the event has become so popular, we’re planning on expanding,” says David K. Wade, BLM BCC Museum Curator. “We’ll have more experts on hand from the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and other interagency partners, more room for our visitors, and hopefully more artifacts to examine than ever before.”

The BCC is the main repository for archaeological and ethnographic collections recovered from BLM-administered public lands in Montana and the Dakotas. The collections are made available to professional researchers, archaeologists, students and those interested in learning about the past in the local region.

“The curation center is an excellent local resource for preserving historic and pre-historic artifacts and this event is an opportunity for us to share our knowledge and passion with folks in the area,” explains Wade.

Montana archaeology spans more than 11,000 years and is represented by numerous bison kills, tipi rings, rock art, cairn monuments, and battle sites. Each yields a variety of cultural materials and information about the past.

Items in the collections represent a variety of artifacts and time periods:

Early Paleo-Indian Goshen

Late Prehistoric side-notched points

Bison bones

Complete bone tools

Early pottery

Rock art

European trade beads

Homesteaders' material

The Artifact Road Show is being held at the Bureau of Land Management State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101, a federal secure building. Visitors need a photo ID to gain access to the building and road show.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.